


Temper the Storm

by Justawriter68



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood and Violence, Family, Found Family, Friendship, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), OT12 (EXO), Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Saving the World, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26080030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justawriter68/pseuds/Justawriter68
Summary: “A thief, bodyguard, teacher, college students, aspiring dancer, homeless kid, pop star, office worker, olympic swimmer--” Jongdae looks at Tao for a moment.“Fashion student.”“Fashion Student, and...” he looks at Yixing.“Florist.”“Oh... lovely, and a *florist* are supposed to save the world?” He laughs. “This was over before it even began.”
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun & Everyone, Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Everyone, EXO Ensemble & Everyone, EXO Ensemble/Everyone, Huang Zitao| ZTao & Everyone, Kim Jongdae | Chen & Everyone, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Kim Jongin | Kai & Everyone, Kim Junmyeon | Suho & Everyone, Kim Minseok | Xiumin & Everyone, Lu Han & Everyone, Oh Sehun & Everyone, Park Chanyeol & Everyone, Wu Yi Fan | Kris & EXO Ensemble, Zhang Yi Xing | Lay & Everyone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17
Collections: EXOventure Round 1 2020





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ I've written the first part of this story for the First round of Exoventure and would like to congratulate the mods on a successful first round. 
> 
> This was based off of prompt M079, to the prompter I hope you enjoy the first part of the story, thank you so much for reading and I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Also a huge thank you to my Beta and fellow writer
> 
> [Xiuchen4Ever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XiuChen4Ever/pseuds/XiuChen4Ever), you're an absolute doll and you should all go read her stuff if you're looking for Xiuchen goodness~

The bustle of the streets around him is barely a dull noise above the sounds of his music as he pushes through the early morning bustle on the way to his class. The expectation of what was going to happen today is far back in his mind. He’d been following the same schedule for a while now, so nothing should come as a surprise for him.

Kyungsoo followed this with strict adherence, and so far the path to his future is going sort of as planned. Just a few more months, and he would get that job and hopefully be set for the rest of his life. This particular morning, however, had started off a little strangely for him.. 

First his alarm hadn’t gone off on time and then he couldn’t find his assignment that he had completed last night. Everything had been so thrown off to the point that he didn’t have time to grab his usual tea and pastry from the local shop on his commute over. 

At the moment, Kyungsoo is focusing on not tripping on his feet as he walks quickly to his class, already nearing more than ten minutes late. It seems as if all of the stop lights and crosswalks are mocking him and are determined to delay him further. 

By the time he makes it to his morning lecture, Kyungsoo has a slight sheen of sweat, and tries to ignore the few looks he gets as he plops down in the seat closest to him. Pulling out his laptop, he opens the device only to find that it was completely out of battery. 

“Of course,” He mutters to himself, resigned to the fact that this isn’t going to be his day, it seems. 

“Rough morning?” a voice next to him whispers. 

Kyungsoo turns his attention towards the person, something more than likely sarcastic on the tip of his tongue. But as he gazes at the man next to him, honest eyes and a kind expression on his face, Kyungsoo decides that the man doesn’t deserve a lashing for making an obvious observation. 

Instead, he sighs. “Yeah, You could say that... “ Kyungsoo releases a bit of a despondent chuckle. 

He can hear the other student next to him, digging for something until Kyungsoo can see a couple pieces of paper being presented in front of him. 

“Thanks.” Kyungsoo takes the paper, offering a small smile to the other man. 

“Chanyeol… my name is Park Chanyeol.” He offers a hand. 

“Do Kyungsoo.” 

The rest of the lecture seems to go back to normal, nothing outside of the ordinary disrupting the morning, and before it knows it, his day is back on track with the ending of class. All around him are various sounds of papers and laptops being shoved into book bags. 

Kyungsoo gets ready to depart after returning Chanyeol's pencil, already taking that initial step forward to head out of the classroom, waiting for the person further down the row to finish packing their things so he could cleanly get out of the row. 

"Hey, wait!" Chanyeol calls. 

Kyungsoo turns back around to face Chanyeol. "Yeah?" 

"Do you want to grab lunch together?" 

Kyungsoo blinks at the sudden question. It catches him off guard, but upon thinking it over, it’s something that wouldn't be out of his way before his next class.

Not to mention Chanyeol seems nice enough. 

Kyungsoo nods. "Yeah, sure." 

Chanyeol gives him a bright smile, slightly bouncing as he stands up. "Great!" 

"Do you care where?" 

Chanyeol shakes his head in response. 

The pair head off in search of food across campus. Along the way, Kyungsoo learns that the other man is part of their geology department, and that apparently lava rocks and volcanoes were some of the most interesting things that Chanyeol has ever had the privilege of learning about.

It's apparently the very thing that had sparked his very interest in his future career path. 

"I see... that's impressive. How you remember all of that," Kyungsoo remarks at Chanyeol's explanation of crystal formations in rocks in caves. "I've taken a couple of science classes for gen eds, but obviously nothing to your level." He takes a bite of his food. 

The pair had agreed to eat at one of the places on campus that served an array of foods.

Chanyeol just waves a hand, again smiling brightly as he takes in another bite of food. "It's nothing, but I will say. Like anything, you have to love what you do in order to do it." He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

Kyungsoo hums in agreement.Thinking about it, he can't remember seeing Chanyeol in his classes before now. Kyungsoo thinks at least he should be able to remember seeing someone like Chanyeol, especially since he was so tall, and the fact that their lecture hall doesn't have that many people. 

Kyungsoo in't sure how they had missed each other. Though he supposed certain things came at certain times. He takes a bite of his food. 

"What about you?" Chanyeol pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

"Marine Geology with a minor in biology." 

Chanyeol's smile gets a little wider then, and his eyes sparkly. "Ohhhh, why the biology?" He wipes his mouth. 

"I figured it would be handy since I'm going to be studying the seafloor, and that environment. Although it isn't ecology, I should know a bit about the creatures that dwell down there, plus how tectonics and the way the floors are formed could have an effect on their behavior," Kyungsoo explains. 

"I see, I bet it's interesting... sadly, I don't think I could keep up with all of that."

The rest of their lunch is spent going back and forth about various other topics, especially those dealing with geological matters, Kyungsoo even being able to help Chanyeol with marine mapping. It’s honestly one of the most engaging conversations that he’s had in awhile. Although he has other friends, there’s really no one he can talk to about his career, as it would either be lost on them or because it was their major, too. 

And before he knows it, it's past time for him to have left. "Oh, shoot... I've got to go, Chanyeol." His eyes widen as he looks at his phone. He begins putting stuff into his bag. He’s going to be late for his shift at the math center. 

Chanyeol gives him a kind smile. "It was nice talking to you, I hope you have a good rest of your day." 

Kyungsoo nods and smiles, picking up his plate and other food items He doesn't know what possesses him, but he suddenly gives the other man his phone number. 

Chanyeol's eyes go a little wide before he's quickly typing into his phone. "I'll text you." 

Kyungsoo nods, telling him goodbye before he's heading out of the eating facility with the same hurriedness that he had this morning, with the exception that he thinks that being a little late to his tutoring session will have been well worth it.

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

Later on in the evening as the sun is setting, Kyungsoo finds himself exhausted from the day. On top of the school work, he’s a part of the school Taekwondo team and this particular practice has been a little rough on him, showing him that he hasn't been keeping up with his morning workouts like he should. 

He knows that he’s going to pay for it in the morning, but the only thing that he had to worry about at the moment are the assignments and readings to be done that are waiting for him on his laptop. 

Kyungsoo can only sigh. But before that there is one mission, and that’s to take a shower and then eat his food. 

Setting his bag down, he quickly gets to work on his next agenda. He sits back in his desk chair, booting up his computer which had been dead since this morning. Immediately upon opening the browser, something catches his eyes, a story popping up on his feed about unusual tectonic activity being detected. 

He frowns a little bit, having asked one of his professors about it today who said it wasn't uncommon to detect high levels of tectonic activity. 

The planet, after all, is one large living entity in a constant state of motion. 

But there’s something that’s telling him that this isn't as small a deal as it was being made out to be. 

"Stop being so paranoid, Do Kyungsoo..." He taps his cheeks a couple of times with the palm of his hands, clicking away from the story and opening his homework portal. 

Sighing at the assignments and graded work that greet his eyes on the screen, he reaches and opens the refrigerator door, looking for one of his favorite drinks to go along with the instant meal that he’s going to fix. He sighs again when his hand meets empty space where a can should be. 

"Well, that's been the culmination of my day so far," he huffs. 

Checking his phone, he finds that he has enough time to get to the campus market before closing and get himself a couple of drinks. 

Kyungsoo throws on his slides and a hoodie, locking his door as his roommate was probably out somewhere doing God knows what. He only ever sees the other man occasionally, coming back and forth on weekends to get a fresh change of clothes or whatever before taking off again for wherever it is he’s going. 

Kyungsoo thinks maybe an internet cafe. 

Heading out of the back door, a significantly darker sky greets him, orange and dark navy blurring together in the distance, the sidewalk lamps already doing the job of illuminating the area around him as he walks. 

Nothing but the hum of the machines is heard around him, the occasional car and person. 

However, almost to the market, he squints as he sees a person standing just out of the way, looking into the tall grass as if searching for something. Getting closer, he finds that he recognizes the tall, lanky form, still dressed in the clothes that he had seen the other in this morning. 

"Chanyeol?" he calls once the other man is within hearing distance. 

The other man turns at the sound of his name, the lenses of his glasses catching the artificial light and throwing it towards Kyungsoo. 

"What are you looking at?" Kyungsoo comes to a stop beside Chanyeol, trying to see into the darkened bush that he had been staring at just so intensely the moment before, but only seeing darkness. 

Chanyeol holds one finger to his lips. "Look and listen," he whispers, the tone of his voice taking a slight huskiness at the volume he’s speaking at. 

Kyungsoo does as he's told, looking out towards the bush, when suddenly there's a flash of light and then the sounds of footsteps. 

"There!" Chanyeol kind of rests a hand on Kyungsoo's arm. "Did you see _that_?"

Kyungsoo nods. "What is it?" 

Chanyeol shakes his head, a sign that he doesn't have an answer. 

The pair listen for a moment longer. Kyungsoo relaxes once they don’t hear anything else. 

He turns to Chanyeol, about to say that maybe it’s just a wild animal or a bug or something. But then the noises return with a resurgence, this time getting louder and now coming in their direction. Kyungsoo's eyes widen as well as Chanyeol's when they look at each other. 

He gets the feeling again that they shouldn't be standing around when whatever it is comes around, even if it ends up being someone's lost dog. 

Kyungsoo reacts quickly, grabbing Chanyeol and dragging him to hide behind one of the large metal fuse boxes that rests beside the sidewalk. 

Safe? 

Maybe not, but Kyungsoo certainly thinks that it’s better than waiting to see whatever it is coming out there while standing right in the open. 

Kyungsoo can feel Chanyeol's much larger body pressed against him, both of their breaths thin as they wait for the footsteps to finally clear onto the cement of the sidewalk. 

When it finally happens, Kyungsoo doesn't know what he had been expecting: a wild rabid animal, a creature that would maybe earn its place amongst the cryptids that everyone would then try to document proof of. 

Three people certainly wasn't the answer. 

Kyungsoo's brow settles in confusion. At least they look every part human. But he notices that there’s something else about their movements—it’s almost too smooth, everything’s perhaps too human-like so that these things don't look human. 

The thought is only complete when he catches a glimpse of unnaturally glowing silver eyes. 

"What the hell?" Chanyeol whispers right beside his ear. 

Kyungsoo just rests a hand on his arm. These humans are immediately raising a fight or flight response in the way of what he wants to do. Honestly, neither sound like the best option at the moment. 

The pair watch as the three people search the area where they had just been standing with cold eyes, before referring to something that was either too soft for him to hear or maybe even understand. Then as the three gather, one of them seems to pull out something from thin air. 

The light that the both of them had seen. 

In the distance, they both register a slight rumbling sound that has both of them freezing up again. 

Kyungsoo was beginning to think that maybe he had fallen asleep at his desk. If only it weren't for the constant reminder of Chanyeol right behind him, he would believe that to be the case. 

After a few more moments, the lights disappear, and the three beings turn to head back into the woods, obviously not locating what they had been looking for, vanishing into the tall brush beside the sidewalk. 

But just as the last one is about to reach the edge of the woods, the worst possible thing that either of them could've ever imagined happens in this moment. 

Chanyeol's phone starts buzzing in his pocket and against the metal of the large object that they were hiding behind.

Kyungsoo feels his heart drop as all three of the people turn back around now. Behind him, Chanyeol fumbles with his phone until he swiftly gets it to stop buzzing with a shaky hand. He offers Kyungsoo an apologetic gaze behind the frames of his glasses before they're both listening out again. 

Hoping that Chanyeol was quick enough that these people wouldn't look into it any further. 

But it seems that fate isn't in their favor as dead eyes steadily approach. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a POV switch in this chapter, that isn't clearly stated off of the bat, But I will say that it is denoted with: ***  
> When it happens. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

The street is quiet, save for the flashing of neon signs behind glass windows of shops as he passes them. 

He tries not to look into the windows of the convenience stores, it would only remind him that one of the only meals of the day came from a snack one of his classmates didn't want and disposed of to him. 

Perhaps it was pity, perhaps not, either way Sehun couldn't find it in himself to care.

In that moment it was what had been important, and now his only focus is on finding a safe place to sleep for the night so that what little possessions he had would be safe from those who would try and take them in his sleep if being out here had taught him anything. 

At least at first glance, it doesn't look like he lives on the streets. 

He’s at least able to keep his uniform clean by way of either sneaking his clothes in with someone else's at the local laundromat, or using some of the coins he may have been lucky enough to save up. But upon closer inspection, a person would be able to tell that perhaps he’s not living the best life, be it that his parents didn’t take care of him, or the hard truth: that he’s homeless at the age of sixteen. 

Either way, it’s going to be another hungry night. He passes many alleyways, none of which look the best or the safest, or they’re the ones that belong to a restaurant. 

Through a slightly open door, Sehun can hear a television running. A voice is talking about something strange happening at one of the well-known universities. But he soon turns away from that, receiving dirty looks from the people inside for lingering too long, so he decides to keep moving, looking at the alleyways as his stomach growls. 

_Maybe I could try going through a dumpster?_

Sehun really doesn't want to do that, especially in his school uniform, but his stomach immediately growls at the thought and now he knows it’s try and maybe find something or not and just ignore it until morning. 

With a sigh, Sehun looks through one of the alleys where there is a restaurant and picks one that’s easily viable. A skim off of the top of the dumpster he had chosen sadly has nothing other than rotten lettuce scraps and other things that certainly aren’t edible and aren’t worth his health. 

With one last sigh he hops down from the dumpster, checking over his uniform and his shoes, kicking a stray rock somewhere into the dark and past potholes. 

It seems like a metaphor for his life, just long and dark with no purpose in sight. 

Sehun runs his hand through his now grungy hair. It had been a while since he'd been able to find a place to wash it properly and it was beginning to show. 

There was one place he could go. 

Sehun picks up his bag, exiting out of the alley and down the street towards the part of town that he learned early on not to hang around. 

The Blackmarkets. 

It’s the part of town that doesn't necessarily look run down, but at the same time it’s a place no one in their right mind wanted to be in near dark or in the middle of the night alone. He had been here once before when he was much younger, but had been fairly scared off by another older homeless man who told him that he didn't want any part of what was going on down there. From drugs, illegal gun sales, and other things, if you could think of it, it probably existed somewhere there amongst the darkness. 

And at this point in his life, at his age, he didn't really see any other alternative than this. If it gave him a warm meal and a place to stay, he was more than willing to do something. 

Despite these thoughts, it didn't keep him from tightening his hands around the straps of his book bag as a way to keep himself from seeming too nervous. But he can feel a nervous churning in his stomach from where he can feel the eyes that pass him, locking onto him. 

Even here he doesn't totally belong. 

He keeps walking, not really sure where he’s going, but at some point he begins to have the thought of turning around and just forgetting the whole situation. 

What if it’s more trouble than it was worth? 

It’s this thought that has Sehun stopping mid-step and beginning to backpedal. 

"Well, what do we have here?" 

Sehun feels a shiver go down his spine at the voice, spinning around to meet the gazes of two rather grizzly looking men. It’s clear in their smiles that they mean him absolutely no good. 

"You're looking a little lost, aren't you, kid?" the second man says, smile all daggers. 

Sehun's hands tighten on his straps. "I just got turned around," he mutters, looking down and planning to just go past them. 

But the hand on his shoulder stops him, the grip uncomfortably tight. "Hey, where are you going so fast? Tell us where you live and we'll take you there." 

Sehun bites his lip then, already crusted and dry from the lack of moisture. "No... that's alright."

He tries to pull himself out of the man's grip but is only thrown back onto the cold cement jarringly, He can feel the stinging in his palms, but at the moment he’s only focused on the two men coming towards him, one reaching inside of his coat. 

Sehun scrambles to his feet. 

"Oh! A quick one." 

The slight amused tone in the man’s voice sends a chill up Sehun’s spine. 

"Not that it matters." The shine of a blade appears from a jacket stained orange by the artificial light. "From the looks of this one, it seems like no one would miss him." 

Sehun feels a cold sweat break out over him, his heart hammering at the obvious disadvantage he was in. If he runs, there’s no guarantee that he would be able to escape the men. 

But if he doesn't do something, then it most certainly leads to his most possible demise. 

"Hey! What's going on over here? Can I join?" 

The sudden interruption of a voice has the three looking over to the owner. 

Sehun notes that like the other men he was dressed similarly, black hoodie, pants and shoes. As he saunters over, a bit of an easy expression is on his face, and one corner of his lip quirks upward as he looks between them, hair shining black and curly underneath the street light. The man, noticing Sehun looking perhaps in paralyzed fear, gives him a wink. 

"It's none of your business, move along." The first man who had approached Sehun looks quite annoyed that a third party has shown up. 

It relieves Sehun a little that this man doesn't seem to be with the other two. 

The easy-going expression on the newcomer's face turns a bit hard as brown eyes narrow, but the slight smile remains there, perhaps more menacing than the other two men combined. "Aww, but I wanted to join, we were comparing knives right?" 

Sehun watches as this man pulls out a gun instead, shining black in the moonlight. 

"Too bad I seem to have forgotten mine... I hope this will be up to snuff?" 

The other two men glare at him, the one putting his knife away and then muttering something about how this isn't worth all of the trouble, before they both just turn around and walk out of sight. The newcomer keeps his gun out for a few more moments until he's sure they're both gone before sticking it back into his pocket.

He turns to Sehun, who feels the hammering of his heart go down a little. He's still looking at the man warily, who suddenly smiles at him. It’s a different type than he had shown up with. 

Somewhere in his mind, Sehun picks out the word genuine. 

"Jeez, kid, no need to look like a deer in headlights..." The man gives an easy going chuckle. "I'm not going to do anything to you." 

Sehun releases the grip on his backpack a little. "Thank you..." he utters softly. 

The man waves him off a little with one hand. "You should go home, this isn't a place for you, kid."

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ ***

Sehun looks down slightly at the word home, squeezing the straps on his backpack again. 

The man looks him over, squinting at Sehun as he takes in the details, from his obviously dirty hair and school uniform and more than well worn shoes, to his face more gaunt and sharp than it ought to have been. He can only wonder when Sehun's last actual meal was, and he doesn't see a hint of a cellphone on Sehun, unusual for any young person these days. 

The man then sighs, taking one last look at the uniform and catching a name from his name plate attached to his jacket. "Sehun, is it? Look, I got a place if you need somewhere to crash for the night. It's small, but it's got food, a shower... and a laundry machine." 

Sehun looks up in surprise, a question in his gaze that this man actually couldn't be any type of serious. 

"Well, do you? Or not?" The man asks due to the lack of a response. 

Sehun finds his voice then, swallowing a little to clear his throat a little. "Yes! yes... thank you." He bows. 

And the man sighs, smiling a little. "Come on then, if you don't keep up... I'll leave you out here," he says as he begins walking off, hearing Sehun rapidly catching up behind him, not walking right behind him but still close enough that he could be seen off to the side. 

The man can tell that Sehun wants to ask something, but was doing the contrary to avoid possibly ending up with no place for the night. 

"Jongdae," the man says all of a sudden. 

Sehun looks back over in confusion. "What?" 

"My name is Jongdae... it's only fair since I know yours." Jongdae looks back at Sehun, giving him a small smile and nod in return. 

As it turns out, Jongdae's place seems to be separated from the other parts of the town. It’s actually pretty nice, though nothing like the apartments or any other parts of Seoul. But it’s certainly better and more welcoming than any of the alleyways and abandoned buildings that Sehun had slept in over the years. 

"It's small, but it's better than nothing," Jongdae remarks as he kicks off his shoes, flipping on light switches, revealing the doorway leading into the living room with the small kitchenette, and a table right in front of the television. 

Sehun follows suit, removing his formerly-white sneakers that are now more resembling a yellow crayon. 

Jongdae heads into his small bedroom, pulling out some old clothes of his that he thought Sehun might be able to wear, as well as an old pair of sneakers that he had acquired that was too big for him. “Here.” he gives Sehun the pile of clothing. “The shower is the first door on the left.”

Sehun nods again and Jongdae watches him as he makes his way into the bathroom before heading into his kitchen, looking for something to cook. He finds that he has some kimchi from the little old lady that had taken a liking to him after he one time scared away another thief trying to take his own hit. 

He hadn't had the heart to tell her otherwise, so instead he keeps others away and occasionally has conversations with her. 

But part of Jongdae feels like she knew why he had been there in the first place. 

Nonetheless she’s still kind to him. Jongdae also pulls out the rice he has left as well as a pack of ramen, spicy flavored. 

He gets to placing the things on the stove, and his rice in the little rice cooker he'd bought a little while back, and lets it do its thing before going to check for the pile of clothes outside of the bathroom. There they are, nicely folded and all. 

Jongdae gives a little smile. He doesn't know if this kid will try and take him for all he’s worth, but at least he’s nice. 

Although by the amount of fear he saw in Sehun's eyes, he doubts that was the case. Perhaps he has just a bit of a soft spot because he can see himself in the kid. 

"This probably needs to be dry cleaned..." he mumbles to himself, hanging up the jacket to the school uniform while putting the other things in the washer. 

By the time Jongdae is getting around to setting the finished food on the table, Sehun comes out with his hair still slightly damp, but definitely looking a lot better than it had been looking. 

And it’s definitely more obvious that the kid is missing more than a few meals. 

"Oh, good... they fit," Jongdae mentions. 

Sehun nods, standing over the small table in the room, looking a little lost as to what to do next.

"Come on, take a seat, don't just stand there," Jongdae urges, taking food out of the various dishes and putting it onto his own plate. 

Sehun eventually comes over and takes a seat apprehensively beside Jongdae, looking at everything for a moment before he hesitantly takes some things from the dishes. 

"I know it seems like an odd combination, but it's what I had in the cabinets..." Jongdae mentions, slurping up a few of the noodles. 

"Smells good..." Sehun remarks, taking a few bites of his food. 

Jongdae slightly hums in agreement. "Make sure you eat a lot... I can't eat this all by myself." He notices the way Sehun's eyes light up and he keeps back a slight chuckle that wants to escape his lips. 

The pair eat in silence, Sehun being the one to clear out most of the food that Jongdae had prepared, just a few noodles that left at the bottom of the pot along with leftover soup.

“Someone was hungry…” Jongdae remarks, beginning to clean the table up. 

Sehun actually looks a little embarrassed, his posture sinking down a little. “Sorry…” 

Jongdae sighs. “What are you apologizing for? Was it good?” 

Sehun nods. 

“Are you satisfied?” 

Sehun hesitates before nodding in the affirmative again. 

“Okay, then that’s all that matters.” Jongdae moves to take the dishes over to the sink. 

Without prompt Sehun comes next to him and places his dishes there too. “Can I help?” 

Jongdae smiles. “You can put those ones away and then dry the ones I wash.” 

Sehun nods silently, and then gets to work putting the dishes where Jongdae directs before moving to dry the ones that he finished washing, the next few minutes go like this. The sounds of the cabinets, dishes, and water provide all of the dialogue. 

“Thank you again… I’ll be gone tomorrow morning.” Sehun remarks as he places the final dish away. 

Jongdae dries his hands, getting ready to tell the kid that it would be alright if he needed to stay a little longer than a day, he isn’t one to send someone out into the unknown, especially when it’s more than obvious Sehun has nowhere to go back to. 

But a knock at the door interrupts him. 

“Company?”

Jongdae’s brow furrows and he immediately reaches in a drawer for one of his guns. “No. Sehun, go hide in one of the rooms and shut the door.” He checks the weapons for ammunition, the chamber holding the bullets clicking back into place. 

Sehun nods with wide eyes, feeling the familiar shiver of fear crawling back up through his spine, but he does as the other man requests, heading back to one of the rooms and shutting himself in. 

Jongdae, on the other hand, creeps to the front door, making sure that everything is securely locked up before looking in the peephole that his tiny apartment actually has, only to be greeted by a pair of empty eyes looking back at him.

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 


	3. Chapter 3

_Beijing, China_

"Minseok, They're ready for you." 

He nods, adjusting the last of his uniform, making sure that everything is tucked in properly and the battery pack of his earpiece is securely clipped to his body. He nods at the voice of another of his co-workers passing by him. 

With one last sigh, Minseok straightens his outfit, once again making sure that everything is in place before going to meet the rest of the men that would be working with him today. 

Out of all of the career paths that he thought he would have when he was older, he never thought that being in personal protection would be one of them. 

And even less so being employed to a wildly rising C-pop star who was also gaining traction internationally.

But then again, he never thought that he would travel outside of Korea.

Here he is. 

"You're aware of all of your assignments, we're going to be in the airport today for the most part... which means that we need to be even more watchful." 

"Yes, sir." 

Minseok nods, pleased. "Let's move then, we're expected in an hour and I want to be early." 

The rest of his crew gets to their cars, making sure that they have everything else they would need out on their little detour back to Minseok's home country. It almost feels odd to think about since he hasn't been back home in years, only seeing it through YouTube videos and maybe the occasional Korean tourist that he helps to get around. 

The ride to the airport is thankfully smooth and without much delay, despite some of the traffic that’s on the streets. Minseok is thankful that all of them are able to get their luggage checked in, save for the small carry ons that they’re bringing with them. 

He’s hoping that all of this will go smoothly. His company has sent them to an airport before, but never overseas with their clients. They usually make other arrangements ahead of time for such protections. 

But not this time. 

The Kris Wu camp had told them that the artist wouldn't have anyone else but Minseok leading his protection detail, that it didn't matter who else was on the team, only that Minseok was the one in charge of the detail. 

So here he is waiting for the familiar black van to arrive. He can already see the fans from the corner of his eyes, the lenses of their cameras glinting slightly as they wait in the warming air. 

Minseok had opted to stay out of his standard suit and told his other men to do the same, since they will be traveling and it will be easier to maneuver around that way in a uniform of just a black t-shirt and pants. 

Minseok sees the familiar black shine of the van appearing.

"The client has arrived, I repeat the client has arrived," Minseok says, hearing several affirmatives flooding throughout his earpiece. 

Minseok approaches the vehicle, the rest of the men behind him as he watches his client step out of the vehicle, dressed in simple clothing that he was convinced cost more than two of his paychecks for just one item of clothing that the artist is wearing. 

“Ge!” 

Minseok holds back a slight smile at the honorific. The star had insisted on calling him that once he had figured out that Minseok was older and it became apparent that he was going to be around a while. 

“Kris, good morning,” Minseok greets as he finishes getting out of the car. The staff follow closely behind, bags and everything else being loaded from the car. 

“I told you to call me Yifan… like the rest of my crew do,” the pop star sighs, the exasperated expression kind of visible behind his shades. 

From then on, they go through the usual bout of getting everyone checked and through the airport, Minseok thanking whatever higher power there is that he doesn’t have to shove anyone out of the way. The crowd is actually a bit tamer than he’s used to when dealing with the young popstar. 

He’s hoping that the same can be said when they arrive at Incheon International Airport. 

As they’re settling into their seats on the two-hour flight, Minseok feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns around to see Yifan once again, his dust mask this time pulled down to reveal the lower half of his face. 

Minseok gives him a questioning look. “Is there something wrong, Mr. Wu?” 

The younger sighs at the formality, turning the phone screen towards him. “They already have previews up.” 

Minseok looks at what Yifan is showing him, the picture very much like the ones he had seen taken of the pop star himself on various social media sites. Very clear and crisp, with a watermark in the corner, but it was obvious they were previews and not yet the full HD photographs. 

He almost doesn’t know what to make of it. 

“They’re asking in the comments who you are,” Yifan laughs, pulling the device away. “I shouldn’t be worried that you’re going to take my fans, should I?” 

Minseok gives a goodhearted smile. “I don’t think I’ll be changing my profession to idol any time soon, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

Yifan smiles as well, turning back to scrolling through his phone. 

As long as the trip continues like this, Minseok thinks he can combat the slight ball of nerves that are arising from the thought of being in his home country. It has been five years at least since he’s talked to his family, leaving the country in a huff despite their wishes for him. 

But he has never regretted leaving, and it’s made him happier in the long run. 

Sooner rather than later, he looks out of the window to see the sunlight reflecting off of South Korea’s cities, beginning to appear from under the cover of the clouds as they descend ever closer to the ground. Coming from the overhead speaker, he can hear the pilot telling them to prepare for their descent and the _seatbelts on_ lights flashing on overhead. 

There’s always a small burst of nervousness for him when the plane finally reaches the ground, but he’s happy that it goes smoothly. There’s only a small amount of bounce touching the tarmac, but now he’s able to focus on the task of his work. 

Making sure that Yifan makes it to all of his schedules safely and efficiently. 

Again they make their way through the airport, however this time getting through the walkway isn’t as smooth. He’s sure that a couple of his men end up having to use a little force and maybe their elbows. For Minseok, it seems that his glare is enough to get most of the fans back as he leads the walk through the area. 

Thankfully, when they finally break through to the more open space, they’re all able to be corralled into their separate cars, first heading to the hotel whereafter they begin to prepare for his interviews for the day. 

It was this that keeps Minseok’s mind occupied during the rest of the day, until they arrive at their final destination for the day: a short rehearsal and walkthrough of the concert space. Arguably the best part of the day, there aren’t the constant sounds of camera shutters. 

Minseok wonders how Yifan deals with it, though he’s sure at some point it probably just became background noise for the pop star. He realizes that now there would probably be more photos of him floating around, and that would continue. 

He contemplates wearing a mask as he works with his second-in-command to canvas the area, assigning people where they think will be most crucial to watch. In the background, the dull thump of music provides white noise. 

But there’s something that he can’t shake off, and that’s the feeling of being watched. It begins from the second that they leave the hotel to start the schedule. At first Minseok is maybe able to reason it down to the various amounts of fans that are around them all day, and maybe one or two of them have somehow gained access to the building that they’re in. But here in the stadium, where it’s just him, his men, and Yifan’s staff, it shouldn’t feel that way. 

Minseok gives the last few orders before he decides to go investigate the feeling himself. Their venue is nothing but several walls of grey cement, the occasional painted wall, and doors. 

Occasionally as he walks, Minseok sees a staff member or two, nothing that's out of the ordinary for the event going on. 

_It’s just a figment of your imagination…_ he thinks to himself after his latest check of the last area. The feeling of being watched disappears as he turns away from the area, back to where the rest of his men are standing. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

Something about concert days always brings a sense of anxiety to Minseok. Perhaps it’s the varied unknown of who exactly is coming into the concert. 

Although it’s already day three in Korea and the concerts have gone off without a hitch, only the occasional fan being disgruntled about their bag or an item not being allowed through the gate, the occasional outfit or item missing from the staff. 

But other than that, everything has gone smoothly. 

Minseok is concerned that he and some of his co-workers might’ve gotten a bit of hearing loss from all of the screaming, but besides that it has been smooth sailing. 

For some reason, he can’t place the vague feeling of dread and anxiety that’s pitting his stomach, the feeling of being watched once again rearing its ugly head. 

He makes a brief check of the stage and peers out into the little dots of light signaling the thousands of fans sitting in the stadium. 

“Minseok…” 

He turns away as his name is called, for the moment again distracted. And as it turns out, the rest of the night goes smoothly and soon they’re all leaving, eager for a drink or late night meal, the next day promising a new show and also their last day in Korea. 

The heat of the concert now filters out into the cooler night air, the slight sweat on his skin giving a slight sense of relief upon contact. 

“Ge.” 

Minseok turns to see Yifan approaching, the artist having now added a cap and mask to his ending stage outfit, a bottle of water in one hand and his bag in the other. He gives him a nod in affirmation as the younger man approaches. 

“Do you know of any good places to eat around here?” Yifan asks, opening up his phone, the screen on the device lighting up the peaks of his face and creating shadows where the light couldn’t reach. 

Minseok can only think of a place that he once knew to be nearby, but it has actually been years since he’s been to the area. There’s no telling whether or not the place would actually be there now. 

He explains this to Yifan, who shrugs. 

"That's better than nothing." 

The group around him nods in agreement, someone else reasoning that there might be another restaurant or something else there instead. The group heads into the cars, Minseok taking the one with Yifan in it. 

"You don't need any directions?" 

Minseok shakes his head. "No, it shouldn't be too far from here." 

The ride continues on in silence, just the occasional light from the street light passing in through the windows and the soft sound of music coming from Yifan's headphones. 

But all too soon that familiar feeling he had sort of gotten accustomed to over the past couple of days begins to creep back up. Minseok's eyes flicker to the rearview mirror, noting that there’s a car behind them that’s more than a little close for comfort. 

It's after a little longer of driving, Minseok realizes that he can no longer spot the other car behind him containing the other members of his squad that’s supposed to be following behind them. 

Minseok's eyebrows furrow. He reaches for his phone sitting up in the holder, only to see that there’s no signal at the moment. 

"What the hell?" he mutters to himself. There's no reason that there shouldn't be any signal. Looking away from the road at the device, he almost misses seeing the person sitting dead smack in the road ahead of them. He quickly applies pressure to the brakes, bringing the car to a sudden, jarring stop. 

Minseok hears Yifan shifting from behind him, hand now appearing on the back of the car seat. "Is everything okay?" 

Minseok can hear in his voice that he had been a little rattled by the sudden stop in their movement. There’s a hint of displeasure across his face mixed with the exhaustion of the night's activities. 

"I think so, he just appeared in the middle of the road," Minseok explains. 

Yifan leans just a little closer, squinting around the seat at the man just standing in the middle of the road. "What the hell is he doing?" he mutters in Chinese. 

There’s something about the blank look in the stranger’s eyes that’s very unsettling to Minseok. 

"I'll just go around, if he won't move," Minseok states, honking the horn at the man. It doesn’t garner a response other than him standing there. 

It’s then that he notices the car from before had come to a stop behind them as well. 

Minseok's grip tightens on the steering wheel. "Mr. Wu, sit back please, and buckle yourself in." 

He doesn't hear the usual complaining from the artist about Minseok using the more formal title with him, and instead hears the seatbelt click, as he tries and reaches his associate through their earpiece, through the range it had he should be able to reach him, but there was nothing but garbling static on the other end of the line. 

"What's going on?" Now there was a new nervous edge to Yifan's voice, as he looked around. 

Minseok looks again through the side view mirror. "I don't know." 

And he watches as the doors from the other car open, and two people come out, their eyes just as empty, as the man standing in front of them.

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 


	4. Chapter 4

The morning always brings a sense of new purpose to Junmyeon. It’s almost as refreshing as his first dive into the pool for his morning swim, allowing him to gain a clarity that can't be found in the shower alone, thoughts melting away into nothing else but how his body moves through the water, his breath, and the way his muscles burn and work their way through the familiar movement. 

It’s still refreshing, though this morning seemed to be a bit more of a brutal workout, the closer they get to the competition that would see if he would qualify to represent Korea in the next summer Olympics or not. Honestly, it’s nerve wracking because he can always find the scouters sitting in the crowd watching his performance. 

He knows that if they had lost interest, they would have stopped coming long ago. 

But he’s glad that all his years of hard work are finally going to pay off within the next week or so. The next competition would be the Worlds. 

Where he would meet friends and foes alike. 

"Junmyeon!" 

He turns at the sound of his name, shrugging his shirt on before throwing on his jacket, smiling as he sees his co-captain, Soyeon, coming over to him. 

"Coach was tough today, wasn't he?" 

Junmyeon shrugs. "I don't think that he was too hard on us..." 

Soyeon scoffs. "Okay, Superman, not all of us came out of the womb swimming." 

Junmyeon rolls his eyes. "Whats up?" 

Soyeon throws an arm around his shoulder as they leave the locker room, the smells of chlorine, bodywash, and cologne mixing as they pass to make their exit, the noise equally that of the showers and the voices of his teammates. 

"The team wanted to know if you wanted to get together for dinner for the meet, and before you go off to the big leagues." 

Junmyeon just rolls his eyes. "Please... nothing has been decided." 

Soyeon merely gives him a non-committal hum, already scrolling through his phone to search for somewhere suitable that they could eat before the meet would happen. 

Junmyeon takes a sip of his water bottle as they finally exit through the doors of the aquatic facility.

“That’s a shame...” 

Junmyeon looks over. “What?” 

“Apparently some hotshot pop star has gone missing while on tour here a couple of days ago… along with some of his security. Some are thinking that maybe the security actually had something to do with it…” Soyeon shakes his head. 

“That is unfortunate…” Junmyeon frowns a little bit. 

Between the mysterious lights seen at the university, and then an explosion or something in a rougher part of town, it seems that things had been getting quite strange for the past couple of weeks, things happening that no one could explain. 

Soyeon sighs again, but then he switches to a restaurant that could fit the team comfortably. He scrolls through a sushi restaurant and a barbecue place, either of which looked appetizing to Junmyeon, honestly. 

"Just remember we can't break the bank on this..." He reminds Soyeon. 

Soyeon just nods. "Alright how about this place... there's a lot of protein and carbs." 

Junmyeon takes the device from Soyeon's hand, scrolling through it for a moment before nodding in approval. "See if they take reservations or not, and then alert Coach." 

"You got it, boss..." 

The two part ways then, each heading to their own cars to head out of the large academy space that he had called his home for a better part of three years.He didn't really know if he could even truly call it a university at this point, it was so much more focused on making athletes, dancers, and other physical performers of the future. 

Academics is a huge part of what they do here, because it’s more than obvious that not everyone here would make it into the Olympics or become a professional. Buty they still need to have a place to hone the talents that they hold near and dear to their hearts. 

Junmyeon knows that his parents wouldn't have even entertained this dream at all had it not been for his obvious ability and prowess in the sport he had come to love. At the beginning, it had only come from a simple love of being in the water and then bloomed from his swimming teacher encouraging his parents to enroll him in one of the younger swim clubs that competed. 

From that moment on there had been no turning back for him. 

And as crazy as it may seem, he often feels more at home in the water than he does walking on land. 

He figures it’s a trade-off: someone can be as graceful as any dolphin in the water, but there’s no room for them to be that graceful on land, too. 

Climbing into his car, the smell of the scented air freshener hits his nostrils, something that’s supposed to be akin to a sea breeze but in his opinion smells like something that would be in a perfume shop. 

The ride home is a familiar and uneventful one, and he sings along to the radio until he pulls into the garage, entering the house with a warm greeting. 

"Jun, dear, how was your day?" 

The voice of his mother immediately greets him, with a smile that mirrors his own as she sits in the living room. 

"It was good... Coach decided to hold us a little longer today." Junmyeon puts down his bags, running a hand through slightly damp hair from his shower in the locker room. 

"That's great, dear." She smiles again. "Your father is going to be running a little bit late again." 

Junmyeon nods at that, eyes briefly flickering to the various achievements and awards from all of his meets lining the walls, the obvious showcasing of parents that are more than proud of their child's achievements. 

His father’s absence is not surprising at all. 

"I'll be upstairs doing homework," he announces, getting ready to push himself off of the couch. 

His mother gives him another smile before her expression turns back to whatever she had been looking at on the television, a slight frown coming over her features, perhaps in the default expression of worry. "What is this world coming to... you think sometimes that there's nothing good left in this world." 

For the first time, he notices that she has the news on, the report of a breaking disaster from an earthquake that had seemingly come out of nowhere, along with the report that [Name] had seen earlier of that Chinese pop-star having gone missing. 

"Yeah... things have been a little weird lately," he agrees, turning away from the screen, picking up the old dusty backpack of his that he’s had now for longer than he can remember. 

His mother sends him off with the kind words that dinner would be ready soon, the words touching the backs of Junmyeon's ears as he ascends the steps to his bedroom, the wood underneath giving the slight hint of a protest at his weight heading up them. 

Finally in his room, he deposits himself into his desk chair and immediately gets to work, booting up his laptop to finish up a paper he had started earlier in the week. If there’s one thing that his father had taught him, it’s that it’s better to be ahead than behind, words that have served him well. 

At least in school work. According to his mother, the state of his room is a completely different matter. 

Junmyeon works until the sun is mostly down.His eyes sting, and the smell of his mother's cooking is enough for his stomach to draw attention to his need to eat. 

He heads out of his room again, already being able to smell one of his favorite dishes in the air. He almost immediately groans because he knows that he shouldn't eat it, especially not on a meet week. 

"It smells delicious, Mom." He shuffles around to the kitchen, looking curiously into the pot. 

She gives him a smile. "Your favorite...." 

"I know... But I can't have it, Mom, it's a meet week." He slightly pouts at the food going to probable waste. Under other circumstances, he’s more than likely able to put away the whole thing by himself. 

His mother just gives a slight huff. "I'm sure that a little won't kill you..." She pinches his cheeks. "Besides, you work hard enough as it is... you've got to eat enough to be able to swim," she reasons, already filling a plate with the delicious substance, knowing that any other conversation about this topic would not be heard any more. 

Junmyeon takes the plate in delight, sitting with her at the table as he continues to go on about his day and whatever else is going on in his life. 

His mother reaches for the rice, giving him a look. "Sometimes I wonder if we pushed you too hard, too soon... why don't you go out and make some friends?" 

"I do have friends, Mom." He takes another bite of his rice, the metal of his utensil scraping the glass. 

"Your teammates don't count, dear." She gives him a look. "What do you talk about other than swimming?" 

Junmyeon can't find a quick rebuttal to this statement, as it’s true. He doesn’t see most of his teammates outside of functions for swimming, and although he does hangout with them in group settings, there’s never that more intimate friendship that he knows she’s talking about. 

He can only look down and push his food around a little bit. It’s not like he never wants to make friends at all, it’s just that he never seems to be able to make those lasting bonds outside of those that he had during training and competition, it just never seemed to click. It’s nothing against his teammates or even his own co-captain with whom he spends most of his time It’s not like the others haven't made the effort to include him in things that they do outside of school, it’s always Junmyeon who declines, to the point where they don't bother to ask anymore. Although he’ll never tell his mother that, or he would never hear the end of it. 

It seems that his personality is as free flowing as the water he’s able to easily navigate. 

"What does he need to make friends for? He has other things to be focused on." 

The sound of his father's voice immediately has Junmyeon straightening up a little in his chair, immediately going after some rice. 

He can see his mother rise immediately to get him his plate setting and some food. "I thought that you were going to be late, honey," she says, setting the cooked meal in front of him. 

"I was able to finish early, so I came," he answers a bit dismissively. "How was practice today?" 

Junmyeon tears into his food for a moment before answering. 

There’s something in the back of his brain that’s subconsciously thankful for the fact that he genuinely loves the sport, and the water, despite his father's rather apparent obsession with winning. 

"It was fine... Coach says we're set to win again," he answers plainly. 

His father lets out a satisfied huff at that, which immediately shifts towards unsatisfied when he lays eyes on what his mother had obviously fixed for him, the meal having been a favorite of Junmyeon’s since he was able to vocalize the thought. 

"What is this? You know he can't have this garbage before a meet." 

The rising tone in his father's voice has Junmyeon slightly on edge. 

"Its fine..." he smoothly interjects. "Coach said I could relax a little bit as long as I don't overdo it. Besides, he's been pushing us harder at practice." Junmyeon once again calmly fills his bowl. 

And can only feel the slight sense of relief when he seems to accept the answer for whatever it’s worth. His father would never starve him or anything. Junmyeon had always been in top physical perfection for his sports and daily life. 

But when it comes to something that may possibly threaten any chance of him seeing the top podium spot, that’s when things get a little testy. 

"All right for tonight... but no more of that this week, Sunhee." His father guffly takes his own serving of the food. "Nothing needs to be able to slow him down this weekend." 

Junmyeon has no doubt that he will more than likely qualify to make the national team. He doesn't want to imagine if he doesn't. There simply isn't room for a world where he doesn't make it into the national team. 

He will make sure of that. 

Dinner turns into silence, with the last meek whisper of a _yes, dear_ from his mother. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

When Junmyeon wakes up the next day, it’s to a bit of confusion, as if he can't tell his bearings nor which way they were coming or going. The last of his dream hangs like spiderwebs in a tree. 

He’s vaguely able to briefly recall a voice in his dream. 

Calling to him. 

Telling him something? 

He honestly can't remember. 

But unlike the last time he had it, the dream had become clearer, in a way that left sweat rolling down his body, the taste of the air from the dream coating his mouth and lingering around his nose. 

Sweet? 

Was it grass? 

The ocean, maybe? 

He can't remember. 

But whatever it was, it had been calling to him. In his blurry mind, he's able to make out the slight remembrance of a building. 

Junmyeon turns to his bedside table, the bright display on his phone lighting up, showing that it’s about ten minutes before he should get up for his daily jog. 

Determined to clear his mind of the lingering tendrils of the dream, he takes himself out of the bed, able to feel the sweat making his shirt cling to his back in an unpleasant manner as he removes it from his body. 

Splashing a bit of cold water over his face takes the last of the grogginess with it. But it brings no more clarity to him than he had before. 

Soon he’s stepping out into the early morning, the dawn ready to brighten the sky, while the city lights are still breaking their way through the glaring darkness. 

His jog allows him to stop thinking for a moment, just him and his breath. 

No worries about the weekend. 

About what would happen if he isn't selected. 

About his mother. 

Before he knows it, his body has led him to an unfamiliar path. Nothing is around except for a few benches and the sight of a small pond. 

Wherever he is, it’s definitely off his usual path. 

And Junmyeon doesn't find himself disturbed by this fact, instead using the moment to calm his breath and still himself as his run turns into a more langid walk. 

Up ahead, though, he finds that he indeed is not alone on this path, with someone else taking their time in the early morning light. Getting closer, he’s able to recognize the jacket the person’s wearing, as it’s one that he also owned as a student of their academy.

It seems that one of his peers had the same early morning thoughts as he did. 

_Do I turn back before he notices me?_

Before he even has the chance to make the decision, it seems that the other man has noticed him, brown eyes in the approaching light looking a little surprised. 

"Morning..." Junmyeon greets with a half wave. 

The other man bows a little as well. "Morning..." 

Getting closer, he realized that the other man is someone he knows, or rather recognizes.

Kim Jongin, the pride and joy of their academy’s dance program. 

"Junmyeon-sunbaenim." The other man's eyes widen a little more as he bows again. 

"Please, please... there's no need. Just call me Junmyeon," he tells the younger guy. 

Jongin nods, black hair catching the light of the street lamps as he gives a shy smile with full lips. "Out on an early morning jog?" 

Junmyeon smiles slightly. "I'm assuming you as well?" 

Jongin nods. "Something like that... yeah." He sort of hugs himself, crossing his arms as if to keep some of the dewy chill that was still hanging in the air. "I was just walking and ended up here." 

There’s one part of Junmyeon that’s curious about how Jongin knows who he is and another is surprised that the other kid is being this open with him in this regard. 

"I can relate to that... we all have a lot going on, don't we?" Junmyeon remarks, shifting from foot to foot.

Jongin nods in agreement. "You have your meet this weekend, right?"

Junmyeon nods. 

"Good luck." Jongin gives him a tiny smile. 

"Thank you." 

The younger student looks back towards the rising sun and stretches a little. "Well, I guess I'll see you around campus?" 

Junmyeon blinks in surprise. "Uh, yeah..." He finds himself perhaps nodding a little dumbly. 

And before he knows it, the other guy is departing into the dawn, heading back the way he had come from. 

Junmyeon stays there a little while longer and enjoys the silence before he also heads back to prepare for the the day ahead. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

The night before the competition, Junmyeon finds himself surrounded by his teammates, pressed into a booth in the small restaurant that he and his co-captain had picked out. 

The table was filled out with things that would give them energy for tomorrow's long day and activities. 

"Listen up." 

Junmyeon's attention is brought from the table, seeing that Soyeon is standing up with a glass in hand. 

"I'd like to propose a toast to Junmyeon... a true fish among men." 

"Yeon... what are you doing, sit down!" he hisses to his co-captain, slightly tugging on his jacket, but this doesn't seem to deter him from continuing in his small speech nor the rest of their team from joining in the toast. 

Even if it was with water. 

"After tomorrow, our dear captain will be headed to the big leagues. Remember us when you become someone's idol." 

Junmyeon lets out an amused huff. "Thank you, I appreciate the thought…” He holds up his own glass. “Now sit down." He tugs on Soyeon’s clothing again. 

Yeon sits down with one last smile. 

"But aren't you nervous, hyung... what if you don't make it?" 

The question is innocent enough, but it doesn’t fail to make Junmyeon’s heart race. 

A scoff comes from the other end of the table. "If hyung doesn't make it into the national team, then how have any of us had a chance in the water? He'll make it with flying colors." 

Junmyeon can feel his cheeks warm slightly, wanting to deny the praise as much as he was hoping that what they were saying would be true and that he would pass everything with flying colors.

"Junmyeon-hyung swims as easily as he breathes air." 

Junmyeon just continues to fill his plate again, not saying anything else. 

"Alright you all, that's enough... you might make him think that he's superman," Yeon says. 

If there’s one thing that Junmyeon is grateful for, it’s Yeon's ability to tell when he gets uncomfortable or is even in the right mindset. 

From then on he’s able to enjoy the rest of the night, filled with joyous laughter of his teammates joking with them and in the moment he at least felt like he was just one of their regular friends. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

The day of the meet, Junmyeon feels the familiar building anticipation filling his body, and he’s more than ready to just be in the water already. A couple of events have passed already and his team is doing very well, living up to their school’s reputation. He can see the approval on his stern coach’s face every time an event finishes. 

"All right, Kim... You're up." His coach's hands clap around his shoulders. 

There were many things that Junmyeon enjoys about the pool, but he would have to admit that doing free swimming and diving are two of his favorite things to do. They allow him to do almost anything in the water without having to do too much thinking about the technical things and only worrying about himself moving through the water. Getting lined up, he recognized some of his opponents that he has known since he was little. 

Now they’re in different schools and perhaps going in different paths in life, the pool being the only thing giving them a sense of connection no matter how small or how trivial it actually might seem to most. 

He would like to think that most of these guys could have been very good friends of his to have a healthy competition with, if he didn't have to deal with his home life and his father constantly seeming to pull him away from such activities. 

While other kids are going to their friends’ birthday parties or even just meeting for something social outside of swimming, he’s at the pool running drills, building up his endurance and stamina, possibly to levels that shouldn't have been healthy for a kid his age at the time. 

He’s sure that to a lot of his fellow competitors, he seems stuck up because he doesn't talk to them. Not that he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't know what to say. 

What is he supposed to say to someone that he doesn’t have a relationship with outside of the competition at the pool? 

He steps up to the small starting board where they’ll all launch themselves into the water at what probably seems a great speed. Below him, the leftover puddle touches the skin of his feet, and the warmth of the chlorinated water brings a different chill to his bare upper torso.

Even now, he can equally feel the warmth of his mother's gaze and the chilling laser-like focus of his father. 

And the impassive gaze of Team Korea somewhere in the stands. 

"Hey, Kim." 

Junmyeon turns at the voice. He doesn't remember this guy’s name but he does remember his face. 

"See you on the other side." 

Junmyeon can tell that the tone of voice was cheeky, challenging, and that this guy perhaps could've been a friend of his some day. Still, he’s someone that Junmyeon hasto watch out for, as the other one that they were considering for the team. 

Junmyeon doesn't know if they’re taking multiples for the spot that he’s aiming for, but there’s something to consider as most of the current Team Korea still qualifies. He didn't think any of them would be retiring anytime soon but he couldn't let that keep him distracted enough to lose focus. 

He turns his gaze away from the other swimmer, nodding a little as he adjusts his goggles over his eyes, getting in the position to launch himself from the board. 

Into the water and, at least for a moment, away from the stares. 

The buzzer sounds. 

He dives. 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

The days after his meet are probably some of the most nerve wracking that Junmyeon has ever been through. Even during their afterparty, he’s a distracted mess, and he knows that Coach can tell. 

It’s obvious in the way he keeps assuring Junmyeon that he would be the first to know if they were contacted in their office about anything that pertains to the source of his anxiety. 

It’s a good enough answer for his father, at least for the moment. 

And his first place medals do so much to tide him over, although the older man does take it upon himself to comment that one of Junmyeon's turns had been a little slower than usual, not as clean as is usually his style. 

Junmyeon blames it on his nerves. 

As of now, he’s relying on the stapler and flyer in his hand for distraction as he puts up the swim team’s poster for the tryouts that are coming up in the following semester. Hopefully he’ll be able to enjoy them as he welcomes in a new batch of freshmen and other things. 

"Hey, Junmyeon! Coach wants to see you." 

Junmyeon places the last staple into the wall, then nods. "Alright, I'll be right there!" 

His teammate nods his head, pulling it back into the office. Junmyeon collects the papers from the hallway, entering the back office and passing the rest of the staff with a short greeting. 

By the time he makes it inside, one of the other members from the women's swim program was sitting in the office as well, greeting him with a smile and a soft but firm 'sunbaenim.' 

"You called for me." 

The coach nods. "Yes, come in and shut the door." 

Junmyeon does as he's asked, taking a seat in front of the desk. His coach leans forward and removes the reading glasses that are currently sitting perched on the end of his nose, setting them onto a desk filled with papers and other various documents. 

"I just received a call from the Olympic committees office." 

Junmyeon can hear the way the other swimmer’s breath catches for a moment, and it’s not hard for him to believe that they’re feeling the exact same thing at this moment, as they waited for the coach to complete the rest of his sentence. 

Junmyeon watches as the older man's eyes soften and a genuine smile comes over his face, the same one he would see when their team had done very well and their best that day. "Congratulations, they're putting you on the team for the next Summer Olympics." 

With the way that his blood rushed through his ears, Junmyeon almost feels like he’s hearing things. But that is soon overridden by the short joyous laugh that the woman beside him gives, filled with relief and everything else in between. 

Thanking his coach and congratulating his peer after that is a bit of a blur, but Junmyeon somehow finds himself outside of their facility, his back against the cool stone of the wall, sunset rapidly approaching, casting the world in orange. 

And that’s all he can see at the moment, as he feels his eyes fill with tears of both relief and excitement. 

It’s like someone had finally removed a boulder from sitting on his chest. 

Wiping his eyes away, his very first instinct is to tell his mother. He brings the phone up to his ear, unable to keep the smile from showing on his face as he listens to her excitement for him, allowing it to fill his chest with warmth. His mother is already insisting that they’re going to throw a celebration of some sort, and they’re going to invite everyone that they know. 

Junmyeon can only get in sounds of agreement before he ends the call, telling her that he would be home soon after finishing up what’s needed of him at the office. 

Before that, though, he took the moment to just revel in it himself, taking a walk down the now empty sidewalk of their institution. 

He decided then and there he was going to get one of his favorite snacks from the vending machine nearby. 

He ignores the initial thoughts of his father in his mind telling him that he shouldn't be eating it. 

As it turns out, the closest vending machine is that of the dancing facility. Junmyeon swipes himself in and then appears in front of the snack-holding machine, immediately spotting his favorite flavored chips and then a drink from the other machine just beside it. 

"Junmyeon!" 

He turns to the person that called his name, seeing Jongin approaching him with a black duffle bag over one shoulder and a towel around his neck. He can tell that the other has been working hard, as his bangs in front are slightly sticking to his forehead. 

"Jongin..." He gives a soft smile with the greeting, waving with the bottle in his hand. 

The cold light of the vending machines slightly throws their shadows onto the hallway wall. 

"Congrats on your gold this weekend." 

"Thank you..." 

The pair continue talking as they make their way out of the building. Apparently Jongin's car is in the same direction as the aquatics facility. Junmyeon finds the company enjoyable, and he doesn't know why, but he has the need to tell someone else that isn't his father the good news. 

"I placed for Team Korea..." 

Jongin looks at him, eyes a little wide But then his eyes follow his widening grin, turning into an accompanying eye smile. "That’s amazing! Congratulations!" 

Junmyeon could tell that the other guy was genuinely happy for him and the achievement. 

"That's amazing," Jongin repeats as he adjusts his bag. "And I suppose I should keep the news to myself?" 

Junmyeon nods, his smile turning a little awkward at the way the information was suddenly let loose from his lips. "Yeah, that would be appreciated." 

Jongin nods. "It's safe with me... I guess this must mean that you're an amazing swimmer... I knew you were good, obviously." 

"Yeah, I guess so, I've loved it ever since I was a kid." 

They talk a few moments more once they come to a stop in front of the aquatics facility, in which time he’s able to learn that the other guy shares a similar passion with dance, having discovered it during his young childhood and wanting to try every style that’s out there. 

Apparently for Jongin, there’s a dream of being a professional dancer. His parents are wary about the whole thing, although it’s more than clear that he has the talent to do with it whatever he wishes, given the many awards and trophies he’s helped bring in. 

The sun is now low enough in the sky that the automated street lights turn on with a timed flicker only a machine could manage.

"Oh, wow it's getting late..." Jongin looks at his phone. "It was nice talking to you, again..." The younger student gives him a smile, pocketing his cellphone before looking back up at Junmyeon. 

Junmyeon nods in agreement. "Nice talking to you, too..." 

Jongin looks as if he's going to say something else, but his mouth soon closes and Junmyeon can see his attention focused on something in the background. With a slightly confused expression, Junmyeon turns into that direction, just enough to see a light that was beginning to get brighter. 

He could feel the chill go up his spine at the sight, it’s something that feels all too familiar, bringing back something from a dream. 

Maybe a warning. 

"What is that?" Jongin whispers. 

Junmyeon turns his attention back to the other kid. In his eyes, he can see the various feelings that are running through his mind, but there seems to be a bit more clarity there. "I wish I knew." 

"Either way, I don't think that we should stick around long enough to try and find out." 

Junmyeon nods in agreement, getting ready to say something else. But that's before the light now greets them from the front, blinding both of the boys. Perhaps this is what it felt like to be a deer caught in headlights. 

Junmyeon shields his eyes, trying to see if he can identify anyone producing the light or a vehicle or something, but he can’t hear or see anything. 

"Excuse me, can you turn your lights off?" He tries calling out. 

There's a moment of more silence, before he can see a silhouette begin to move out from the light, one soon turning into three. 

At this, Jongin's breath picks up. "Run," he suddenly says. 

Junmyeon turns his head to him in confusion. "What?" 

Jongin doesn't give him another chance to even argue. As he pulls Junmyeon along behind him, he can hear the figures picking up their own speed in pursuit. 

"You know them?" Junmyeon asks. 

Jongin shakes his head, sparing the briefest glance behind them. "No." 

Although Junmyeon can tell he’s telling the truth, there seems to be a bit of uncertainty in his eyes. 

The pair continues running. Luckily, both of their conditioning allows them to outrun their pursuers and get into the preforming arts building and into a room. Hiding amongst a bunch of tumbling mats, they sit in the dark, nothing else in the room except for a single stream of light from the hallway and the sound of them trying to catch their breath. 

Junmyeon hides back in the mats, sliding down and sitting against the wall as soon as he's sure that he doesn't see the people coming at the immediate moment. He looks at Jongin and there is a stark fear in his eyes. 

"What do you know?" 

Jongin's eyes focus on him, and the younger student bites his lip as if considering his answer. "You won't believe me... but..." He sighs a little, running a hand through his hair. "I... had a dream about this happening, and I've always just treated it as that. Until now." 

Junmyeon considers the words, taking in a breath. "Like... seeing the future?" he whispers. 

"I don't know... just, it was this same scenario... except I was always alone. I always got the feeling that it was telling me that whatever was chasing me was dangerous." 

They pause for a moment, and Junmyeon thinks of his own weird dream. 

He licks his lips a little nervously. "How does it end?" 

Jongin shakes his head. "I don't know... I always wake up before then... though the last time I had it, I was doused in water just before that, and something told me to go out and search." He turns his attention towards the door to make sure that the other people weren't near. "That morning I woke up to take that walk, and ran into you... I guess I was looking for an answer of some sort." 

Junmyeon is about to respond, but he’s halted by the sound of the automated door beeping. As it opens, a larger rectangle of light floods the floor in front of them, giving the wood the color of life before it's replaced by a group of shadows melding into one. 

The pair of them push themselves further into the mats, hoping that if they push back far enough that the group of men would leave. 

There’s part of Junmyeon's brain that’s telling him that all of this is ridiculous and that he just needed to go ahead and face these men. 

But there was a larger part of him that’s urging him to believe what Jongin had said, and that voice is far more prevalent in his mind at the moment. 

The pair watch as the group draws closer. Junmyeon is looking for a way out, knowing that there isn't anything that he can do that wouldn't out either of them and there’s no telling if the group had weapons on them or what. 

Does he even dare to take a look around the corner to see what they at least look like? 

A hand on his shoulder stops him, and he looks back to see Jongin holding him back, giving him a shake of his head. It seems that Junmyeon’s body was already beginning to move despite his thoughts still being in transit about the whole idea. But there’s nothing that either of them would be able to do at the moment. 

The pair wait in an agitated silence for the strange group to leave, and after a few moments, that seems to be the case. They hear the footsteps begin to file out of the room one by one, the door opening up again to a larger rectangle on the floor before the door once again sets with a click.

Junmyeon can feel a large breath leave his body in relief. 

"Do you think they're actually gone?" Jongin whispers, his eyes large. 

Even in the dark, Junmyeon can feel the anxiety coming off of the younger student. He can't help but feel some type of responsibility. 

"I don't know. I'll look," Junmyeon whispers back, creeping forward on the balls of his feet, trying to make sure that not even a squeak is audible as he creeps forward, ever so cautiously, to look around the gymnasium. 

As far as he can see, they’re alone in the gym. 

He feels a further wash of relief flow over him. They can get out of here and get back to the coach and the rest of the office to tell them what they had seen and have the campus security maybe do something about it. 

"Sunbaenim!" He hears the strangled sort of shout from behind him. 

Junmyeon whips around, just in time to see hands coming through the mat behind them, grabbing Jongin and trying to drag him off. Without another thought, he leaps into action, reaching for Jongin and pulling him away from the hands coming through the mat. The pair of them stumble back onto the hardened wood floor unceremoniously, and his elbow throbs as he landed with his weight on it. 

He ignores it. His first priority is making sure that Jongin is okay. Although he looks physically fine, he can tell that the other is shaken up. But he doesn't get to voice his concern, as soon the door swings open again and the figures return through the doorway. 

Junmyeon's stomach drops even as they scramble to their feet. 

There is nothing normal about these people. 

Nothing at all.

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 


	5. Chapter 5

" _Shit_!" 

Baekhyun curses as an already-abysmal morning turns into something worse as he spills his coffee on his white dress shirt. It was as if the universe is challenging him. 

How much more could Byun Baekhyun handle until he finally snaps? 

He guesses it will be the game show category that they’ll be running here. 

It’s already bad enough that for the past few weeks, he’s been getting no sleep due to the strange-ass dreams that have been plaguing him, leaving him exhausted as if he hasactually physically been there himself. 

In them are a bunch of people, voices, and a location that he doesn't know anything about. 

It’s all confusing, to be honest. 

He initially thought that it could be due to the alcohol that he’d had one night with a bunch of colleagues of his once before. 

But as the days and weeks passed, the dreams only got stranger and more vivid. To the point that he’s sure he'd be able to recognize one of the people in them on the street if he ever sees them. 

He’s seriously considering that someone at his work had placed a curse on him for some reason. 

With these thoughts in mind, he goes to his closet to luckily find another clean dress shirt hanging up, but he knows that he needs to do the laundry. 

This is one of the moments that he curses himself for giving in to his parents’ wishes and choosing to study accounting in college. 

Is he good at it? 

Yes. 

Does he enjoy it? 

Not in the slightest, even though he knows that in the long run it will provide him with better job security down the road. 

But for now all it has given him are ruined dress shirts, and being the coffee errand boy at the company he'd been lucky enough to snag a job at. 

Finally he leaves his apartment, hoping that for the most part he hasn't forgotten anything important, because he certainly isn't going to make himself any later than he already is at this point. 

He pushes through the streets, praying that nothing else will hinder his way towards his employment, and then his phone rings. Although he recognizes the tone as the one he had set for purely work-related things and he doesn’t know what it’s going to be, he can only hope that it’s something good. 

Maybe they’ve finally decided to let him go. He thinks to himself with a snort. 

Baekhyun stops slightly in his trek through the street to look down at the message. It’s from his co-assistant. Baekhyun’s _official_ tile is Assistant to one of the more important managers in the office, and it seems that in his official Assistant capacity, he’s the one being tasked with picking up flower orders from this shop that’s in the total opposite direction that he’s currently traveling. 

An order that his co-worker could have easily picked up on his way to work. 

Baekhyun lets out another irritated huff, replying that he’ll pick up the flowers—for what, he really couldn’t care less—and turns on his heel, hailing a ride to the address. In what seems like forever, he finally arrives to the small florist nestled between a row of other well-known shops. Although it’s smaller in stature, it still fits in with its more grandiose neighbors.

He pays the cab driver with a small thank-you, heading through glass doors. The scent of many flowers greets him immediately. 

Despite the plants that are around the place, there’s not a speck of a leaf or petal otherwise to be seen on the floor. 

"Welcome to Lucia's... how may I help you?" 

Baekhyun turns his attention from the plants around him to the voice. He's Greeted by a kind-looking man, waiting for him to respond. There’s a black apron tied over his clothing, and he waits patiently for Baekhyun to answer with a broom in hand.

He isn't paying attention, or rather he decides to ignore the slight bout of recognition that showed itself on the other man's face. 

Perhaps they had seen each other on the street before. It wouldn't be too uncommon for that to happen, especially with all of the running around that Baekhyun does on a daily basis, even during the weekend. 

"I'm here to pick up an order..." he explains. 

"Ah, I see..." The other man sets the broom aside. "Follow me." 

Baekhyun follows him to the counter, giving him the name of the company, and then waits while he goes to the back to retrieve the order. In one corner, he can see that there’s a television, and at the current moment they’re reporting about something happening at an athletic academy. A building or something had caught fire sometime yesterday evening. He had heard the name of the school before in passing as one of his older co-workers mentioned that their daughter was there playing volleyball or something like that. 

Aiming for the Olympic team it seems. 

Behind him he hears the sound of the electronic bell ringing again to signal that another person has entered the shop. Their footsteps approach the counter and Baekhyun takes a step back, scrolling through his phone so that this other person can stand at the counter as well. 

From the back, the worker calls out, saying that he'll be there in just a moment. 

Baekhyun gives the new arrival a polite nod and smile. The other man just looks at him, seemingly shocked. 

"Morning..." he says before going back to looking at his phone. 

The stranger had looked at him as if he knew him or something. Maybe they had gone to school together and shared a class. 

He’s almost tempted to look again, but that would require actually engaging with the other man. 

"I'm sorry... but do we know each other?" the stranger says. There's almost a slight accent and hesitance to the words. 

It looks as if his choice has been made for him, so Baekhyun looks up from his phone. A man with a sharp face and equally sharp features looks back at him, black hair styled back from his face neatly. AFrom the way he’s dressed, Baekhyun doesn’t think that the other man works with him in the same building, at least, and that’s something of a relief in his book. 

He also looks as tired as Baekhyunhas felt this week. 

"Ah... no? I'm sorry I can't say we’ve met," Baekhyun answers. 

Luckily, the flower shop worker returns then with two bouquets, cutting short any further conversation. The bouquets are quite large, and the worker sets them carefully one by one on the counter with a slight grunt. The sleeves of his work shirt are drawn up to his elbows as he punches various things into the keypad in front of him. "Sorry about the wait... they were stored a little farther back." 

Baekhyun shakes his head. "Not at all..." He pulls out the company card, handing it over to the worker. 

The worker gives him another calm dimpled smile, before turning to the other man who was standing next to him. "I'll be right with you." 

There's silence for a moment. "Right." 

Now the stranger sounds really uneasy. 

Baekhyun wants to get out of there really quickly, not wanting to be around if something between the two was about to go off. 

He waits for the flower shop worker to print off his receipt, trying not to shift in place as a sudden anxiety settles over him, the type that had been in his dreams. "Thank you..." Baekhyun gazes at the name tag. "Yixing?" He says a little unsure, hoping he didn’t butcher the pronunciation too badly.

Yixing nods. "Do you need help getting those to the car?" 

"Ah...." Baekhyun thinks about it a little more, and although he could try it, there was no reason to struggle. Secondly, he wanted to warn the worker that he might need to call the authorities on this other man because he was acting more than strange. 

But before either man could make it through the door, a few more people enter. Immediately, Yixing turns to greet them with a smile. 

Baekhyun peeks around the bouquet of flowers. Seeing the men just standing there, he got the feeling that something just wasn't right. 

"I'll be with you in a second." 

But instead of responding in any way, shape, or form to Yixing's greeting, the other men merely file in further, blocking the doorway. Baekhyun can hear the door lock. 

At this, irritation rises in his gut again. Baekhyun isn’t about to let this ruin his day further or cost him his job, even as miserable as it made him sometimes. 

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" His eyes immediately move over to the sharp-featured man that had just come in before them. "Why don't you tell your buddies to move?" 

The other man looks a little shocked at the accusation. "I-I don't even know them," he finally says. 

Although Baekhyun is annoyed, he's more inclined to believe that the first man is telling the truth with the way that he takes a step back from the three standing in the doorway.

"Come with us," one of them demands, the voice a cool, even tone as if he’s just casually discussing the weather rather than demanding that strangers come with them willingly. 

A little confusion and worry sprouts across Yixing's face. "Sir, I need to please ask that you step away from the door." 

"Come with us," the man says again as if it’s supposed to be more convincing the second time for them. 

Baekhyun scoffs, putting down the flowers and reaching for his phone, ready to call the proper authorities to go ahead and deal with this madness. As he's pulling up the keypad, he hears the first man let out a sharp breath. He looks back up to see that one of the three men had pulled out a weapon, something that was gun-looking. 

At least that is the comparison his brain is providing him with at the moment. 

"Hey man, take it easy." Baekhyun raises his hands up in surrender seeing this weapon being pointed at them. 

All sleek and black. 

And the message was clear, come with them or face the wrath of the gun and the possibility of hot lead being put into your body.

But the mood suddenly changes when the first man to come in takes one of the flower arrangements that had been sitting on one of the tables and hurls it at the three men, water, glass, plants and flowers being thrown everywhere into the space in front of them. But that doesn’t last long as the strange man shoots the weapon, immediately vaporizing the objects in front of them like they’re in some type of science fiction movie. 

And then Baekhyun hears the sharp-featured man shout something that Baekhyun doesn't understand, but that Yixing apparently does, because without a pause, he takes Baekhyun's arm and drags him away behind the counter, along with the sharp-featured man, shutting and locking various doors behind them.

Although from the way that Baekhyun can hear footsteps and then rapid banging on the door behind them, he can tell that the door isn't going to last any longer. Yixing continues to lead them out through the back of the shop into interconnecting alleyways, finally stopping for a moment to catch their breath. 

"Who... were they?" Baekhyun asks, sparing a glimpse back into the doorway. 

"I don't know, but I don't think that we want to be around much longer to try and find out," the other man remarks, his sharp features now tinged with anxiety as he continues through the alleyway and out into the street. 

Baekhyun and Yixing look at each other and follow him through the weaving crowds, not quite running but not quite walking either as they pass various shops and people. 

Baekhyun spares a glimpse behind them every now and then to see if he can spot the three identical faces. He isn't sure if they would fire the weapon in a crowd as large as this, although from their actions in the shop, it seems that they would have no problem doing just that if they couldn't get them to come with them willingly and more quietly at that. 

The three escapees walk for a little while longer before finding themselves in a crowded park. At least from here it should be somewhat easy to see the other three coming as they would obviously stand out from the rest of the general population. 

Baekhyun once again looks at the man with the sharp features. "What sort of stuff are you into? I'm not losing my job because some gangster decided to rob a flower shop." He runs a hand through styled hair, but he honestly couldn’t care less at the moment about it. 

The other man blinks sort of owlishly at him before releasing a small, but short laugh. "If you call teaching a backdoor job, then yes, I'm guilty of stealing knowledge from textbooks and redistributing it to my students." 

Baekhyun stares at the man agape, almost at a loss for words. "Okay, then what is a school teacher doing out of class this time of morning?" Baekhyun crosses his arms staring at the man accusingly. 

At this the man stares for a moment as if he was going to answer the question, but then he looks away. "I can't say," comes in a short mutter.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, letting out a huff. "Great, now don't you think that we should call the police or something?" 

"Yeah, as if the police are going to know what to do with people who own guns that incinerate glass," the supposed teacher snorts. "Why did I even come out this morning." He runs a hand through his hair. "I should've just gone to school like I was planning. 

Yixing looks at their obvious distress, grimacing a little. "Look, I know this is less than… ideal… at the moment, but I feel that we should all just take a breath. I’m Yixing.” 

Baekhyun just looks at the other man before sighing a little. “Baekhyun.” 

Their pair of gazes turn to the last man still sitting on the bench looking quite disgruntled. “Luhan.” 

From then on, there seemed to be a bit more of a stable peace between them, but it still didn't lend them any Idea of what to do in this situation. 

"Okay, since we can’t rely on the police... where do we go?" Baekhyun asks. "There's no one else that would take this explanation without all of us looking crazy." 

Baekhyun can see that the other two men are nodding in agreement. They could simply leave and then pretend that this never happened, it was a hopeful thought, but fleeting, especially as he registered Luhan's eyes looking past them and farther into the park as he stands from his seated position on the park bench. 

"Shit, they've caught up already?" Baekhyun immediately begins looking around at the area to see if there is possibly a way that they could escape without being seen, but splitting up wouldn't be the greatest of ideas. 

He could feel that at least one of them would get caught in the process, and there was no telling what would happen then. 

Baekhyun doesn't know if he would be able to keep it from his mind, if he knew he had left someone to their undetermined fate despite him getting out relatively okay from the situation. 

Before any of them could even begin to make a relevant decision, Baekhyun sees the moment their pursuers men spot them, the familiar glimmer of their strange weapon a pointer in the sunlight. 

The craziest part of all is that no one else seems to be reacting to the group in the slightest. 

"Run... we've got to run." Yixing pats Baekhyun’s arm urgently, doing the same to Luhan to move them from their frozen spots. 

And once again they’re off, this time ignoring the more obvious glares and curses they get as they roughly push past people. 

Why can't any of them see the three creepy-ass men with the almost hilariously dangerous weapon pointed in their path?

The fleeing trio finally makes their way out of the park, reaching the crowded intersection at which they have to wait for the changing light to pass. 

To his left, Baekhyun can hear Luhan let out a curse under his breath, or at least that is what he’s assuming that it is, based solely on the tone of his voice rather than the foreign tongue that it had been spoken in. 

Looking back, he can see that the strange men are now getting too close for comfort, people parting for them without a prompt as if it was an unconscious thing to do. They weave through the masses like water through rocks. 

Baekhyun is seriously debating taking the leap and just jaywalking across the road, figuring whatever fate or vehicle awaits him there is far better than the one at the hands of these creatures. 

But just as he seriously considers the action, something that he could only consider as coming out of a movie happens: a large black SUV pulls up to the curb, causing many, including himself, to step back as the door swings open. 

"Baekhyun, Luhan, Yixing, get in!" shouts a voice from the driver's seat. 

It’s certainly no one that he knows, and Baekhyun garners from the shocked expressions on their faces that neither of the other two know this man, either. 

"Get in or perish, your choice!" the man says again. 

It’s at that moment that with a curse, Baekhyun launches himself into the vehicle. He slams the door, hearing the same thing happen just behind him in the back of the car before it peels out into the street again. 

Only once he could see the pale faces of the trio of strange men become another swathe in the crowd did Baekhyun's heart begin to settle down., Although they’re now off of the street, looking at their apparent savior, he doesn't know if it’s going to turn out to be better or worse than the situation that they had previously found themselves in. 

He takes in the driver.There’s nothing overly remarkable about him, although he does look maybe a bit young to even be handling the car that he’s driving, dressed in all black from head to toe. As if noticing that he’ss looking, the driver's eyes suddenly focus on Baekhyun again. 

"Do you all have cell phones?" 

Baekhyun gives a nod, and then he hears Luhan and Yixing give verbal affirmations from the back of the car.

The man simply holds his hand out. 

Baekhyun's gaze briefly meets with the other two. Yixing is the first to hesitantly hand the man his device, Luhan adding on to the pile second, and then Baekhyun third. All of this to only watch them be unceremoniously thrown out of the window after their batteries were removed and sim cards crushed. 

"Hey!" The exclamation comes out a little choked as Baekhyun stares out the window the devices had been thrown out of.

Great. Out of the maw of one beast and seemingly into another. 

"Where are you taking us?" 

The man makes brief eye contact with him. "You'll see," he replies simply. "Now buckle up, it would be a shame for you to die at this stage after I went through the trouble of saving you." His eyes look at the back seat through the rearview. "We have a long drive ahead." 

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 

Baekhyun soon learns that the driver hadn't been lying about the ride, it’s a long one indeed. He soon watches the city fade into the outskirts of the city, then more trees and forests, though at some point he figures that he must've fallen asleep because the next thing he knows he's being shaken awake by Yixing standing outside of the passenger side door. He looks around as the sun is setting and the sky is turning a violet over the area. From what he can see, there are trees all around them. 

He turns his attention back to Yixing. "Where are we?" he whispers. 

The florist shakes his head. "I don't know. About halfway here, he had us blindfold ourselves until we arrived" 

Baekhyun lets out a groan, realizing that he really has no other choice but to unbuckle himself from the car and follow the other two. The risk of trying to run without knowing what waited for him in the woods is far greater than simply cooperating at this point in time. 

Besides, the man does have the fact that he saved them still on his belt until proven otherwise. 

Baekhyun exits the car, the door closing with a definitive snap as he goes to stand alongside Yixing and Luhan, who gives Baekhyun a brief nod. 

Baekhyun responds in kind, then he turns his attention forward where the driver is standing. His mind fills with absolute disbelief, looking at the old and seemingly worn out building. 

He can recall it with such clarity. 

It’s the exact same one that’s in his dream. 

He looks at Yixing’s and Luhan's faces and wonders if somehow they’re having the same sentiments. 

"This way, we want to get inside before it gets dark. Besides, you have some people to meet." The driver turns without another word, heading towards the building with an ease that makes it seem as if he lives there. 

And who knows? Maybe he does. 

Luhan follows after a moment, and then Yixing does the same a moment later. Not wanting to be left behind, Baekhyun quickly follows, perhaps feeling equally as pleased to be inside as he is dreading seeing more people sitting there waiting for them. There are nine, sitting around in chairs, perhaps already talking about something by the way the noise dies down and the attention is immediately turned to them. 

"Sorry for the hold up... It was much harder to shake them off this time," the driver tells the group. 

Baekhyun takes a look at his surroundings. The inside of the building isn’t in nearly as bad shape as the outside is, the wall and the floor looked lived-in but obviously taken care of. There’s even seating, all of which is occupied by the others in the room save a few empty seats. 

And although no one responds, he can see a few nods from the group already sitting there. As they get closer, he scans the group, realizing that they were all other men. 

More numbers means that they possibly have a better chance at escaping. 

But on the flip side, if the group had been here already like this, why hadn't they tried anything sooner? 

Getting closer, he does recognize one face from the news. It’s that pop star that had gone missing. It’s then that Baekhyun maybe realizes he’s in actual deeper shit than he thought. Honest to god kidnapped by a man who had crushed their cellphones and then threw them away like they were yesterday's trash. 

"Alright, they're here now. Now tell us why you've brought us here," A deep voice demands. Itisn't raised in any way, but it’s obvious that it left no room for discussion other than what he had asked. 

Baekhyun is surprised that the voice came from such a small-looking person, large eyes boring into the driver currently taking his time walking to the front of the circle. Beside this man is a much obviously taller man pushing up his glasses with one finger as they slid down his nose.

"Gentlemen, I would like you to meet, Baekhyun, Luhan, and Yixing,” the driver says instead. "They'll also be joining us." 

"In what?" another man hisses.This person looks more than pissed, and beside him, there’s a kid. 

Baekhyun guesses he can't be any older than high school age at most, and it filled him with the same anger he had felt at his morning going awry. 

"This is fucking sick, you have a fucking kid here," Baekhyun voices. "Whatever you're up to can't be any excuse to have a kid here." 

The driver scans them all, leaning back against the table that seems as if it had been placed there just so he would be able to lean on it while he paused and gave his drawn-out explanation. "Well, since you seem to want to know so bad, Kyungsoo, Jongdae and Baekhyun... I'll tell you." He crosses his arms. "You're here to fulfill your destiny." 

"And what might that be?" A new voice speaks up. This man is sitting next to the pop star, and he raises a strong eyebrow as he gazes at the driver. It almost reminds Baekhyun of a cat that is immensely displeased at the moment at their current predicament. 

Baekhyun turns his attention back to the front. 

And he could swear that just for a moment, he can feel the world still, and would've been able to hear a pin drop as the driver's words left his mouth. 

"Well, to put it quite simply. Your destiny is to save the world."

ꋊꋍꋊꋍꋊ 


End file.
